Happy Days On Trishul

I reported on board the frigate Trishul in mid-August 1968. Captain S Rajendra was in command and the ship was undergoing a short refit and not scheduled to sail till the end of the year. This made it possible for all newcomers to settle down, get to know the ship and each other well. All of us specialists were fresh from our long courses and, therefore, ‘hot’. The Navigating Officer was RD ‘Roly’ Lewin, RB ‘Bunny’ Suri was the Gunnery Officer, RG ‘Gulu’ Kumar the Torpedo and Anti-Submarine Officer and I, the Signals Communications Officer.

In November, the command changed hands and Captain JS ‘Jaggi’ Bawa took over. In December, we started sailing for trials and were fully operational by the end of the year.

Early in January 1969, Trishul and Talwar sailed on a goodwill cruise to three Gulf countries. Our first stop was Kuwait. After the usual sightseeing, we were invited in the evening to a cocktail party by some Britishers working in the oil companies. The party was in the house of one of them. On arrival, we were asked what drink we would like, whisky substitute, rum substitute or gin substitute? We were perplexed and inquired what was this substitute business? Their reply,  “You see, there is prohibition in Kuwait, so we cannot buy liquor. However, we are allowed to distil our own liquor inside the home premises. Hence the ‘substitutes.’” After which we were taken on a tour of the back lawn where we were shown the mini distillery plants. The ‘substitutes’ were not bad at all!

In Kuwait, the two ships were at anchorage to start with but on the last day, they were shifted to the oil jetty for fuelling. After the ships had secured alongside, we were free to go ashore and return by 6 pm for sailing to Bahrain, our next port of call. As the oil jetty was quite far from the gate of the port complex, minibuses had been arranged to transport us from the ship to the gate and back.

Ashok Batra, who had wangled to be on board for the cruise after serving as Flag Lt to the CNS, and I went out and returned at about 5.45 pm. We found the driver sleeping in the minibus and asked him to take us to the ship. The latter said in his Arabic English, “Your ship gone.” We thought he was annoyed at our disturbing his nap and requested him to hurry as our ship had to sail shortly. But he was adamant and refused to move saying, no, there is no ship, I saw your ship sail about an hour ago and it is gone.

At that time, it was quite dark and we could not see the ships. The earth slipped from under our feet and Ashok and I were thunderstruck at the thought of being left behind in a foreign country. Just when all seemed lost, a car arrived and out came Jaggi Bawa and Cdr HKL Bhagat, CO Talwar. I cannot describe our relief at seeing them as we thought, “OK, we are safe. If the Captains are also stranded, we are in good company!”

Capt Bawa in his casual nonchalant style said, “Come on boys, let’s go.” We recounted what the driver had told us and the driver confirmed it. For a while, the Captains were stunned too but then Cdr Bhagat said, “The ships can’t sail. We are the two Captains and the ships can’t go without us.” At this, the driver reluctantly told us to get in and drove to the jetty. Sure enough, the ships were very much there well secured alongside!

We then learnt that the driver was not completely wrong. While getting ready to sail, it is normal to check the propellers by turning them slowly. In this case, the Engine Room had erred by providing too much steam with the result that the ship gathered momentum, the ropes securing the ship to the jetty snapped and the ship got underway. Roly Lewin, who was on the bridge, promptly ordered the anchors to be dropped and the ship was brought to a stop. Thereafter, tugs which were standing by, brought the ship back alongside and a major disaster was averted. The driver had seen the part where the ship broke off from the jetty and thought that the ships had sailed!

We sailed later that evening and reached Bahrain the next afternoon after a rough passage owing to ‘Shamal’, a strong north-eastern wind in those parts. Bahrain was more open than Kuwait with a large number of expatriates working in the oil industry. Ashok had the contact of a big businessman, Anwar Ashraf, who looked after us during our stay there. In particular, I remember going to an evening party which could have been straight out of James Bond’s Goldfinger with girls dressed in golden costumes and roulette tables to gamble on.

After four enjoyable days, we sailed to Sharjah which is less than an hour’s drive from Dubai which we could also visit for sightseeing and shopping. The highlight was a lunch hosted by the Ruler of Sharjah at which about 100 officers and sailors from each ship were invited. Add to it a large number of local invitees and you have about 500 people at a sit-down meal! There were three long tables for the guests with a smaller head table at right angles at one end for the Ruler, the two Captains, diplomats and local VIPs. Laid out on the tables at reachable intervals were large dishes of rice with huge pieces of camel meat sitting in the centre of the rice. Our Electrical Officer, Cdr 'L', a pukka brown sahib with impeccable manners, was impressed at the sight of the dish and expressed his appreciation to the local guests sitting next to him while most of us, not used to the idea of camel meat, were wondering what we were going to eat as there was precious else!

After settling in our chairs, we waited for the head of the table to start but were told by the locals to help ourselves because the custom was that the Ruler would only serve himself after all the guests had done so. As soon as we made a move, the locals dug into the camel meat tearing out large chunks with their bare hands. One of them bit into a piece and not quite liking it, put it back in the main dish. Cdr 'L', who was politely awaiting his turn, saw this, exclaimed disapprovingly, “I say!”, and thereafter stayed away from helping himself to the camel meat he was so eagerly looking forward to devouring. Vegetarians like me got to eat nothing anyway.

Sharjah marked the end of our cruise and as the Indian Fleet was already at sea, we were asked to join it off Bombay. On rendezvousing with the Fleet, we were ordered to take station ahead of the flagship Mysore which was leading the ships in a single column formation. This was unusual as in a column, ships are usually positioned in order of seniority of the Commanding Officers. We had barely reached our station when a wheel ('Corpen' in naval signal terms) to a new course was executed. This manoeuvre requires the leading ship to turn to the new course with the rest of the ships turning in its wake maintaining relative bearing and distances. The manoeuvre automatically transfers the role of the guide to the leading ship which identifies itself by hoisting the flag G on the masthead.

We started turning and just then our Chief Yeoman, the seniormost signals sailor on board, whispered to me, “Sir, we should be the guide.” I immediately shouted, "Hoist Golf (flag G)” and the flag was hoisted. Soon we were ordered to take our proper station down the line and the flagship resumed being the guide. Exercises continued and on completion, we happily returned to Bombay.

Subsequently during the debrief of the exercises, the FCO (Fleet Communications Officer) Lt Cdr “Clinker” Karve told me that our stationing at the head of the column and the wheeling were ordered with a view to check our quick reactions. The moment the Corpen signal was made, some eager bodies on the flagship pointed out, “Trishul has not hoisted Golf”. But before a ‘bottle’ (rebuke) could be broadcast, the flag went up silencing would-be critics. Situation saved and a favourable first impression created which shows how small issues can make a big difference.

Thereafter, we took part in a number of fleet exercises and the ship performed well. The four specialists, Roly Lewin, Bunny Suri, Gulu Kumar and I combined smoothly and functioned as a well-oiled team. Occasionally, there were hitches in the gunnery fire control system which actually was the responsibility of the Electrical department. However, as the Captain and Cdr ‘L’ were batchmates, the Captain took out his anger on poor Bunny who took all the ‘bottles’ calmly. Good old Bunny, God rest his soul.

I had an able assistant in Lt Mohan Singh, an ex-telegraphist who had risen to officer ranks. He looked after the communication sets and wireless operators and ensured they operated at high efficiency. He was a Marwari from Jodhpur, from my state of Rajasthan. When he went on leave, I asked him to get me a bottle of Kesar Kasturi, an exclusive and exquisite drink from Jodhpur so potent it appeared to set your body on fire!

At sea, Roly and I spent most of the day on the bridge of the ship. Roly was always hungry and the duty steward had instructions to constantly supply chopped ham sandwiches and sausages on the bridge. I must confess, that though a vegetarian, Roly ‘forced’ me into sharing the eats to the extent of my actually becoming fond of them and treating them as ‘veg’!

During the monsoon months of July and August, the aircraft carrier Vikrant was deployed on the East Coast in order to carry out flight operations unhindered by weather. Trishul was ordered to accompany Vikrant as the rescue ship in case of any aircraft emergency. One emergency did occur when an Alize piloted by Lt Ashok ‘Aku’ Roy had an engine failure and had to ditch. We charged to the spot and started lowering a boat when Vikrant’s helicopter beat us to it by picking up the three-men crew, Aku, Lt ‘Harry’ Sirohi and a sailor. It was a testimony to Aku’s skill as a pilot that he made a perfect landing in choppy sea to enable all three to get out of the aircraft safe and unhurt. Two years later, Aku’s luck was to run out when he and Sirohi fell victims to a Pak fighter shooting them down in the ’71 war.

On the East Coast, Madras was our base where Vikrant and Trishul returned for weekends. Madras was a fun city with friendly people who welcomed us and organized events to keep us busy. One regular feature was a hockey match between the ships and a girls’ team called ‘Shamrocks’. If I remember right, the men had to play one-handed and did not mind losing to the girls!

We had a boisterous wardroom and kept ourselves entertained with loud music much to the discomfort of our Cdr ’L’ who was the Mess President but stayed away from the wardroom except for meals. ‘60s were the famous decade for pop music and songs of those days are unforgettable and popular to this day. Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Simon and Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin and  Creedence Clearwater Revival were coming up with one hit after another. Beatles were still on top of the pops and Roly and I would keep up the ‘la-la-la-lalala-lala of Hey Jude long after the disc was over. Some singles are worth mentioning too: Lulu’s “To Sir With Love”, Archies’ “Sugar Sugar”, Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully’ and Herman’s Hermits’ “I Am Into Something Good”. As Mary Hopkin sang, “Those were the Days”!

We returned to Bombay end-August when Bunny Suri decided to get hitched. He threw a big cocktail party which went long into the night at the end of which Jayanto Roy Chowdhry, JK ‘Lala’ Talwar and I decided to step out and eat at Bade Miya’s stall near Taj Hotel. When we got there, we found he had packed up. Hungry as we were, we decided to go to Sea Lounge at the Taj. We ordered Swedish Open sandwiches and the waiter brought a large tray of assorted ones. One each was not enough and Roy Chow assured us that he had had these before and the price on the menu was for the whole tray. So we gorged ourselves but when the bill came, found that we had been charged for every single piece we had eaten. Roy Chow and I said we had no money and Lala Talwar had to shell out a substantial sum cursing us with a “You and your Swedish Open Sandwiches”!

India’s first discotheque, Blow Up, had started functioning at the Taj and with the latest sound system and psychedelic lights, was a big attraction. One evening, Gulu Kumar invited two girls to the ship and asked me to join. After a few drinks we decided to go to Blow Up. I settled down looking forward to a long evening of enjoyable music and atmosphere while Gulu and the girls engaged in some talk. Abruptly, Gulu drew my attention and said he and the girls had had a big fight. He took out his car keys and asked me to drop them at Malabar Hill as he did not want to be with them. It all happened too fast and in a kind of daze, I found myself driving Gulu’s car with the girls seated at the back. As I drove, I started musing over the strange turn of events which had me driving Gulu’s friends instead of relaxing at Blow Up while he, whose guests they were, had washed his hands off them! By now, I was in a rage which kept rising and I started driving fast. Suddenly near Taraporevala Aquarium, the right wheels of the car went over the foot-high divider. The girls screamed but I kept driving at the same speed with the car tilted on the separator till the crossing when the car thudded back on the road. I kept going and on reaching their house, told them to leave. I headed back to Blow Up where I examined the car and the damage. I found Gulu and recounted what had happened and offered to pay for the repairs. We went back to the ship and next morning, Gulu got in touch with his insurance agent who said he would take care of the damage. Gulu also got a call from the girls who told him that his friend was mad!

The amazing part was that the car did not overturn and kept going and none of us even had a scratch. A testament to my driving skills developed from the age of 13!

In October, I went to Delhi as a member of the Navy Golf team to take part in the Inter-Services tournament. I visited my old boss, Admiral Chatterji, the CNS, and had a pleasant tete-a-tete with him. Later, I was told by his Flag Lt Cdr, Avinash Bhatia, that the Admiral had said to him, “Ravi came and spent an hour with me and did not even ask for anything!”

By the time I returned to Bombay, I learnt that NHQ was setting up a Weapons Acceptance Trials Team (WATT), including a Communicator, that would be sent to UK for a 3-month course. The team would inspect the equipment for the Leander class frigates which were being constructed in Mazagon Docks, Bombay. I thought since the Admiral himself expected me to ask for something, there was no harm in my bidding to be on the WATT team. So I wrote to Avinash asking him to suggest my name to the CNS. Promptly came a letter from NHQ that I was in the team and to standby for further instructions.

Little did I know that I had ruffled some feathers. Viji Malhotra who was Asstt Director Naval Signals (ADNS) told me that Cmde EJ Debu, DNS, and Cdr APS Radhakrishnan, DDNS, were most upset at being told by the CNS who should be on the WATT team. They could not say no to the CNS but Ravi Sharma was in the doghouse!

By that time, Trishul had been nominated to go to Japan for EXPO in early 1970 and all transfers were frozen. DNS visited Trishul and told me that I was being transferred to Signal School Cochin in a month. I pointed out that according to NHQ policy, there were to be no transfers at this stage. He said no, this did not apply to me as I was standby to go to UK and should be available at short notice and that Lt THR Iyer had already been appointed to take over from me!

I joined the Signal School in the last week of December '69 and so ended my happy and rewarding stay on Trishul.

P.S. India had by then placed an order for some ships and missile boats from the Soviet Union much to the annoyance of UK which till then was our major supplier. As a result, the Royal Navy cancelled the WATT course making me miss both Japan and UK and staying put in Co-Co-Co-Cochin for 22 months!